The disk itself is flexible, hence the floppy disk. In contrast a hard disk had rigid platters, hence hard. The outer casing has nothing to do with it.
You’re technically correct, the best kind of correct. And that said, from a daily-use perspective, the 3½" type has a rigid case, i.e. not floppy. So the storage medium is floppy, while the whole object that the user is expected & supposed to interact with is not. That’s why I find “3½ inch floppy disk” to be a bit of a misnomer.
The 8" and 5¼" types have soft carriers, which is why I have no qualms calling those “floppy disks.”
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The disk itself is flexible, hence the floppy disk. In contrast a hard disk had rigid platters, hence hard. The outer casing has nothing to do with it.
You’re technically correct, the best kind of correct. And that said, from a daily-use perspective, the 3½" type has a rigid case, i.e. not floppy. So the storage medium is floppy, while the whole object that the user is expected & supposed to interact with is not. That’s why I find “3½ inch floppy disk” to be a bit of a misnomer.
The 8" and 5¼" types have soft carriers, which is why I have no qualms calling those “floppy disks.”